INTERVIEW SPOTLIGHT

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF RESEARCH AT MCMASTER UNIVERSITY DR. KAREN MOSSMAN

VIRUSES AT PLAY

MATTHEW LYNN1 & ROHAN AANANTH2 1Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours), Class of 2022, McMaster University 2Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours), Class of 2021, McMaster University

Dr. Karen Mossman is a Professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, and a member of the McMaster Immunology Research Centre. She currently serves as the Vice-President of Research at McMaster University and previously served as the Chair of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences. Her research explores virus-host interactions with a particular focus on interferon responses, oncolytic viruses, and coronaviruses. Her lab was a part of the first effort to isolate the SARS-CoV-2 virus earlier this year.

Photograph by Daily News; Communications & Public Affairs - McMaster University HAVING STUDIED BOTH MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY THROUGHOUT YOUR ACADEMIC CAREER, WHEN DID YOU FIRST BECOME INTERESTED IN VIRUSES AND WHY?

Growing up, I only had a Plan A and that was to be a vet. I only applied to one university and was fortunate enough to get [in] and volunteer [at] the [...] animal clinic. I hated it. Plan A was in jeopardy. [However], in [my] program I was able to do thesis projects for the last two years of my undergrad degree, [where] I was working with Dave Evans and [...] with viruses. I really loved it!

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS LED TO MANY DRASTIC CHANGES IN DAILY LIFE AROUND THE WORLD. WHAT DIFFERENTIATES IT FROM THE SARS EPIDEMIC OF 2003?

When it first surfaced, we recognized what the virus was very quickly because we [had] gone through the original SARS in 2003. [SARS-CoV-2] can transmit really efficiently and we’re seeing it doesn’t cause the same disease as the original SARS. We see the mortality is much lower, but that also means there’s a lot of asymptomatic infections. A combination of asymptomatic infections,

the ability to transmit efficiently, and the lack of a vaccine [allows] this virus to spread around the world and keep us on our toes.

THE MOSSMAN LAB ENGAGES IN MANY PROJECTS, INCLUDING STUDYING VIRUS-HOST INTERACTIONS IN BAT COLONIES THAT COULD ACT AS RESERVOIRS FOR ZOONOTIC VIRUSES. HOW HAS THIS WORK HELPED TO INFORM YOUR APPROACH TO STUDYING COVID-19?

If you’re a virologist, bats are fascinating because they can harbour many types of viruses including [many] that cause pandemics in humans. Even duriing experimental infection with viruses such as coronaviruses, [bats] show no signs of disease [even though] their immune system[s] [...] are very similar [but not identical]. We’re interested not only in how a host responds to a [viral] infection, but how the virus counter-responds. [Once we] know what happens in bats [and humans], we can also start to understand [how] viruses evolved [and] use tricks that we’re learning in the lab [...].

YOUR LAB WAS PART OF A COLLABORATIVE INITIATIVE WITH SUNNYBROOK HOSPITAL AND THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO THAT FIRST ISOLATED SARSCOV-2 IN MARCH 2020. WHAT WAS THE PROCESS FOR ISOLATING THE VIRUS?

For this whole process, we [had] phenomenal collaborators both at McMaster and other institutions like the University of Toronto. A great collaborator of ours, Dr. Samira Mubareka, a clinician-scientist, [was] starting to see some of the first [COVID-19] patients in Toronto. A postdoctoral fellow in my lab, Arinjay Banerjee, had been talking to Dr. Mubareka and said, ‘wouldn’t it be interesting if we could isolate the virus from the patient so that we can start working on the virus?’ All viruses have their own little tricks [so] we need to understand what the tricks are. It was great that Dr. Mubareka had access to patients [and] patient samples, and Arinjay had the expertise in how you actually work with, grow, and isolate pathogenic coronaviruses [...].

WHAT WERE SOME DIFFICULTIES YOU ENCOUNTERED DURING THIS PROCESS?

I mean, nothing working with these viruses [is] easy, you have to go to a certified [level three containment] facility. Everything takes three times longer in containment level three [...]. [Although] Arinjay worked at a level three facility in Saskatchewan, [he] still had to go through training and get certified in [the] Toronto facility, and [again] at McMaster. I wouldn’t say it’s a challenge, [but] it was an added level of complexity. Arinjay worked with a number of colleagues and within two weeks they had the virus isolated [but] of course, we had to sequence it to make sure it was SARS-CoV-2. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE GLOBAL EFFORT TO FIND VACCINES AND WHAT WILL LIFE LOOK LIKE AFTER?

This has been a global effort I [have] never seen with any other pandemic, [where] every lab that has expertise in virology [or] vaccines is somehow involved in this. This is a pandemic that has affected everybody, [no] matter where you are in the world. Coronaviruses are challenging. There has not been a vaccine against any coronavirus, [including] SARS, MERS, and [the] four human coronaviruses that cause 10-30% of yearly respiratory infections. Patients infected with the original SARS had immunity [to reinfection] estimated at only a couple of years, but we’ve [already] seen evidence of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection. This [has] implications for a vaccine. With [multiple] labs using every possible strategy, we’ll probably have multiple vaccines. I don’t think anyone is expecting that any vaccine is going to be phenomenal because it is a challenging virus to make [a] robust immune response against, and it’s likely that any vaccine [will require] boosters to [maintain] the response. I’ve heard reports that [in] phase three clinical trials, if a vaccine shows at least 50% efficacy, that will be deemed sufficient, [whereas] normally you’re looking for 90-95%. Hopefully, there’ll be multiple different vaccines [that are] shown to be safe —that’s the good part of having different labs around the world working on different approaches.

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR STUDENTS LOOKING TO ENTER THE FIELD OF VIROLOGY IN THE FUTURE?

So, I don’t think anyone that gets into virology will ever be out of a job because viruses aren’t going away. [Viruses infect] different species, the plant industry, [and] even [the] aquatic industry. Whether [someone] is interested in the negative aspects of infections, [including] pandemics and how to control that; or [the positive aspects, such as], or biotech, viruses for therapeutics or gene therapies, there are many avenues. I always tell students it doesn’t matter what field you get into, you just have to be passionate. There [are] eureka moment days and frustrating days, but it’s easier to get those good days and get beyond all the bad days if you’re passionate.